Waterfoul
New member
Well my girlfriend, who is the defending state of Michigan Champion speed skater, Masters Division (inline blades... she can book!) was skating with her kids Sunday and got knocked down.... by her own 14 year old son! Looks like she tore the ACL on her right knee... We'll know more on Wed. after she sees a specialist, but this is going to be very hard for her and the kids (12 year old daughter, 14 year old son). I feel really bad for him too... he has no idea how much house work he has created for himself and his sister. She can't go down stairs to the laundry room... she can't go upstairs to their rooms (which might not be so bad from their point of view!), can't push a vacuum, etc... for quite some time. We do not co-habitate so I can only help so much.
Anyone else been thru this? What should we expect?
Mike
Anyone else been thru this? What should we expect?
Mike
03viperguy
Moderator
ouch! I havent been through, but have seen. takes a while to heal up, and I remember thinking it looked like a real bad time 
I had 2 knee surguries (one on each knee) and that was a faster heal time, but I got scoped as well. just make sure she takes it easy, let the body heal! good luck to her and feel better! bring her some ice cream 
I had 2 knee surguries (one on each knee) and that was a faster heal time, but I got scoped as well. just make sure she takes it easy, let the body heal! good luck to her and feel better! bring her some ice cream 
n2oiroc
New member
i think yamaholic22 went through a torn acl. im sure he will chime in when he is back.
I've been through it (5yrs ago)... Depending on where they take the graft from, plan on her being unable to do anything for a minimum of 3 months and nothing too extreme (skating, running, twisting, jumping, etc.) for at least 8 months.
Feel free to PM me with any questions. I've had a lot done to my knee and my brother just had his 2nd ACL surgery.
Feel free to PM me with any questions. I've had a lot done to my knee and my brother just had his 2nd ACL surgery.
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sxviper32
New member
torn acl's riddle the sports world. preventative workouts helped me a ton. i know people who watched me and my brothers and others (we all worked out at the same place with a specialist) and would just cringe at the way we turned and twisted our legs, knees, ankles, etc. i'm not saying we meant to, but strengthening all those little muscles and such pays off BIG!!! if anyone does sports i would highly reccommend looking into a "core" type strengthing program. they work on the stuff that nobody thinks to work out, ie rotator cuff, lower back, knees, ankles, etc. they aren't your hulk hogan bicep builder by any means, you can do that on your own i'm sure. best of luck you her and you all...
Been there done that twice with the same knee. I hyper-extended my left knee so far that my ligaments pulled the top of my tibia off, tore the ACL , dislocated my knee, tore the cartilage and meniscus (sp?) and cracked my knee cap.
Originally they put me in a cast just to get everything back where it belonged and let the swelling go down. I went for about 6years before I had my ACL replaced. Now there are two ways they can repair it, one which is much more painful than the other.
The first method that her ortho doc is probably going to suggest is to harvest her patella tendon on the same knee and use that to rebuild her ACL. This is the tendon that goes over the top of your knee cap from your thy to your shin. This is the painful route!!! I speak from experience. This method requires a longer recovery period also because they had to go in and mess around with the patella tendon.
The second method is to use a cadaver ligament which I did the second time. This is MUCH less painful and requires a much shorter recovery time.
With either method the best thing she can do is get her leg into as good a shape as she can through exercise because being in shape cuts down the pain and recovery time drastically.
Also, make sure she listens to the doc and takes the pain meds before the pain sets in. Keeping ahead of the pain is key to a tolerable recovery for the first few days. If they have the in-home Kool-pak pump system get it! It’s worth its weight in gold when your knee starts swelling and you need constant cold water to help control the swelling and pain that goes with it.
Mills
Originally they put me in a cast just to get everything back where it belonged and let the swelling go down. I went for about 6years before I had my ACL replaced. Now there are two ways they can repair it, one which is much more painful than the other.
The first method that her ortho doc is probably going to suggest is to harvest her patella tendon on the same knee and use that to rebuild her ACL. This is the tendon that goes over the top of your knee cap from your thy to your shin. This is the painful route!!! I speak from experience. This method requires a longer recovery period also because they had to go in and mess around with the patella tendon.
The second method is to use a cadaver ligament which I did the second time. This is MUCH less painful and requires a much shorter recovery time.
With either method the best thing she can do is get her leg into as good a shape as she can through exercise because being in shape cuts down the pain and recovery time drastically.
Also, make sure she listens to the doc and takes the pain meds before the pain sets in. Keeping ahead of the pain is key to a tolerable recovery for the first few days. If they have the in-home Kool-pak pump system get it! It’s worth its weight in gold when your knee starts swelling and you need constant cold water to help control the swelling and pain that goes with it.
Mills
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Squeeze Play
New member
I completely blew up my ACL playing Tennis about 12 years ago. It looked like shredded crab meat from the pictures. I did the patella tendon harvest, which they told me had a better success because there wasnt much risk of rejection. I was in rehab the day after surgery and after 3 months I was mountain bike racing. I found the best way to rehab and strengthen the muscles around the knee was biking. Low impact and good duration. Good luck to her and she should recover well being an athlete.
change_up
New member
I tore my ACL snowboarding about a year and a half ago. I was walking (I hate crutches... so i lived with looking stupid while hobbling at school all day) within two to three weeks, but couldn't do anything else - Nothing. took me 1 and a half months to be able to sit on my sled, about 3.5 to stand while taking abuse and I just recently reached my 95% range of motion and stability. Very successful in my opinion, but I guess a 16 year old heals up a little faster than most adults. Anyway I got part of the tendon moved from the back of my leg, not too sure which method this was called.
The therapist will be most concerned with R.O.M (range of motion) and do a lot of painful excersizes (pushing, stretching, crouching) The pain is unbearable for the first few days, and it slowly gets better. She should be encouraged to put as much weight on it as possible in her spare time without hurting it (walking with weight supported by two crutches at first, then moving to one crutch, then slowly with no support) After the first couple weeks are over she may be getting up and about a little. I took pain meds for 4 days and they seemed to work very well. Let me warn you/her take them BEFORE SHE STANDS!! It will feel fine in the morning and once you get up it's agony time. A frozen bag of peas is the ticket in my opionion or a freezer pack - something you can get around most of the knee. All in all listen to everything the surgeon and the therapist has to say - very important for a timely recovery.
Hope she's feeling better soon.
The therapist will be most concerned with R.O.M (range of motion) and do a lot of painful excersizes (pushing, stretching, crouching) The pain is unbearable for the first few days, and it slowly gets better. She should be encouraged to put as much weight on it as possible in her spare time without hurting it (walking with weight supported by two crutches at first, then moving to one crutch, then slowly with no support) After the first couple weeks are over she may be getting up and about a little. I took pain meds for 4 days and they seemed to work very well. Let me warn you/her take them BEFORE SHE STANDS!! It will feel fine in the morning and once you get up it's agony time. A frozen bag of peas is the ticket in my opionion or a freezer pack - something you can get around most of the knee. All in all listen to everything the surgeon and the therapist has to say - very important for a timely recovery.
Hope she's feeling better soon.